Indian pupils in results joy

The overall pass rate in the Gulf region is 97.66% compared to 88.84% in India.

ABU DHABIi // Many Indian school pupils in the Gulf were celebrating yesterday after the Class 10 exam results were announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education, showing average scores were up slightly over last year. Indian pupils in the region also outperformed their counterparts in India; their overall pass rate was 97.66 per cent, compared to 88.84 per cent in their homeland.

More than 11,000 students in the GCC sat for the CBSE examinations, which are regarded as highly competitive and important for getting into good universities. The 97.66 per cent pass rate in the Gulf represented an increase of 0.43 per cent over 2008. Students from 52 schools in the UAE sat for the exams. "The results were very ... impressive, especially among the girls, and this demonstrates the tremendous increase in the level of education in the Gulf," said Ashok Kumar, chief executive of the Indian High School in Dubai.

The network of Global Education Management Systems (Gems) schools across the UAE and Qatar reported a 100 per cent pass rate for their 1,390 students who sat for the exams. Our Own Indian School in Dubai, Our Own English High School in Fujairah, Our Own English High School in Dubai, and the Abu Dhabi Indian school also reported 100 per cent pass rates. Akhilesh Mohan, a student at the Abu Dhabi Indian School, had the country's overall grade with 96.8 per cent.

Nine per cent of Gems students scored more than 90 per cent on the exams, and approximately half of the total students scored more than 75 per cent. Of the Gems students, Eleeanor Abigail from the Our Own English High School in Dubai had the highest total score with 95.4 per cent. More than 800,000 Indian students in different countries sat this year's CBSE Crade 10 exams. [e-mail]